Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Portrait as Media User

My role as a media user is limited to the receiving half of the information chain; I am predominantly a consumer rather than a producer. This tendency is most evident in my use of the Internet, a progressive medium where user participation has become the norm. Overall, I have been left in the dust of the bandwagon of Web 2.0, a term defined by Wikipedia, a user-edited online encyclopedia, as “a supposed second-generation of Internet-based services that let people collaborate and share information online in new ways.”[1] While my peers establish online personas on social networking sites such as Facebook and share their perspectives on weblogs and online forums, I lack a virtual platform for my opinions and an online personality.

My presence of Wikipedia is a characteristic example of the role I take in cyberspace. I frequently read the online encyclopedia for leisure and for class research, and I closely follow the internal, behind-the-scenes discussion, but I have disregarded the project’s appeals for me, as a reader, to edit articles or write new ones. Likewise, I regularly browse the discussion forums of Slashdot, a technology news site, as well as the “kibitzing” discussion areas of chessgames.com, a chess web site, but I never contribute to the debates and discussions. I do not have a weblog, although I occasionally read blogs devoted to subjects that I’m interested in. In general, I enjoy absorbing the written word of other citizens of cyberspace without offering anything of my own in return.

I follow the same pattern of receiving with giving in using free software. I often download and play free games that amateur game designers create for others’ enjoyment, as well as to get the names seen. Recently, I took to playing SLASH-EM Vulture’s Claw, a graphical descendant of the adventure game Nethack. Like Firefox, a web browser that I use daily, Nethack is an open-source project in that it is created by a community of volunteers and enthusiasts, and all users are welcome to contribute to the project. In these cases, my lack of programming knowledge prevents me from doing any meaningful work for the projects. However, I do not have such an excuse for keeping silent on online forums and refraining from editing Wikipedia. I feel like I am a leech in that I derive utility and enjoyment from the work of others without reciprocating with work of my own.

Of course, not all avenues of media offer me the chance to both read content and to generate it. When I read the online satirical newspaper The Onion or the online edition of the New York Times, I belong to the general readership, while the articles are authored by professional writers, just as for an actual newspaper. This dichotomy is the same when I watch a television show, view a billboard, or read a book.

So why have I neglected the unique opportunity the Internet gives to have an Internet presence or to contribute to online discussions with groups of people who share specific interests? In part, keeping in touch with friends online or joining a virtual community does not compare for me to actual interaction or a face-to-face discussion. I avoid technology that gives the illusion of human contact. I only use instant messaging to talk to people too far away to see person. I prefer playing a multiplayer video game with friends in the same room than joining friends in an online game while alone at my computer. An online book can serve in place of a paper book, but an avatar, a profile, and an online persona cannot substitute an actual person and a discussion in a forum cannot replace conversation. Nevertheless, I am willing to give the social medium of the Internet a try. I hope to expand my horizons as a media user so that I will not be left behind in the backwaters of Web 1.0.



[1] "Web 2.0." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 12 Sep 2006. Wikimedia Foundation. 12 Sep 2006. .

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